Mumble...mumble

I haven't had the motivation to update much lately. Mostly I'm preparing for my return to Omega in a little over a week. Also finishing up my first course for my degree program. Also trying to make sense of my life, which is in financial shambles.

I've been doing a lot of painting pieces for Julie's company. Hoping to send her a bundle of images soon. Also keeping up with Bahrain's status. A list of prisoners killed was released on Aljazeera today. Listening to Constantina Lopresti's new album (as well as getting used to calling her by her full Sicilian name. I have always known her as Dina Rae). Excited for Beltane, although you can't tell by the tone of my typing. My energy has been crappy since I was sick on Monday.

I'm excited about my road trip to NY! Gas prices make it a little less exciting though.

I'm now fluent in zombie language. I bet you didn't know that.

and then...

Then she ran outside to the pond and said, "This is MINE!" and waved her hands over the general area of the pond. Then she said, "I'm watching you geese...I'm watching you".

And then a few hours later she randomly said, "Let's go buy some heroin", after the television mentioned herring.

My mother sometimes has bouts of crazy.

He Has Risen...And He's Hungry for Brains!!!

My family is not Christian, however they still insist on celebrating Easter. Of course, what we are really celebrating is Saturnalia and the ancient fertility rites of Spring. We do this by consuming slaughtered pig (which I will not be partaking in), and various tubers.

I enjoy a good fire and brimstone sermon as much as the next person, but what I don't understand is, if Jesus died this horrible, bloody death and then rose from the dead three days later and started stalking his former disciples why didn't people peg him for what he really was: A zombie. I don't trust anything that bleeds for five to seven days without dying, and I don't trust anyone who is raised from the dead. I've read the Zombie Apocolypse Handbook. I know how to identify a zombie. God can't fool me, I'm onto his games.



Earlier this morning my mom opened the sliding glass door and yelled into the backyard, "Hey! Geese! Go away! Get away from the pond! I'll sick my cats on you! I know you hear me. Don't you walk away from me!"

And thus began another typical holiday with my family.

mukhtar mai's attackers released

Nine years ago a Pakistani woman named Mukhtar Mai was gang raped by 14 men. This was a legally sanctioned punishment carried out because of a crime her 12-year old brother allegedly committed. When a woman is gang-raped it is seen as an act of dishonor and the woman is then expected to kill herself for creating such dishonor. Mukhtar Mai refused to kill herself, however, and she challenged the Pakistani government, initially bringing six of her attackers to justice. In the wake of her struggle for women's rights she created an organization that now safely harbors other women who have endured similar trauma, Mukhtar Mai Girls Model School, which later expanded to become Mukhtar Mai Women's Welfare Organization.

http://www.mukhtarmaimmwo.com/index.html

Recently, however, it was announced on DemocracyNow! that five of the six men convicted of raping Mukhtar were let go on grounds of insubstantial evidence. This means that five of the 14 men who were involved in gang-raping her will now be set free and allowed to do as they wish. Mukhtar Mai has expressed concern over their release, stating that she fears for her life now that they are free.

As I read this I wondered what we could do to help. First of all, I wrote to Mukhtar Mai's ogranization in order to express my support of her human rights and my desire for her to remain safe. In addition to this I am going to research any petitions in support of Mukhtar, or the legislation of Pakistan's tribal laws that lead to such acts as gang-rape. If you would like to show your support for Mukhtar Mai and the women of pakistan please blog, tweet, and inform others of her story. You may also want to read the book 'Half the Sky', which contains the stories of many women internationally who have been and are subjected to gender-based crimes. In addition to this you can visit the website of Mukhtar Mai's organization, read her memoir, and write to the organization to show your support.

Thank you to everyone who makes the decision to support women's rights. What you are really supporting are our collective human rights.

600 human lives taken from their homes

The official account has the the number of persons detained/arrested at over 600, a large percentage of which have whereabouts which are still unknown. Four of the detained individuals died in custody early in April. A young woman would rather starve to death than live her life without her family. Thousands from around the world join her by fasting, writing to government representatives and embassy officials, informing news stations of the precious lives quickly disappearing from their own homes, perhaps never to be seen again.

When I wake in the morning, when I pause to stop thinking, when I turn my bedroom light out at night her face haunts me, her words reverberate in my ears. Her eyes are dark and full of fire, the same fire I've seen reflected in my own light eyes when I know I too would die for something. There is no justice in a world where doctors and lawyers working to help people achieve political freedom are among the disappeared, and the world remains silent.

We can discuss why various methods of protest are effective, foolish, or better than others, but discussing methods is not accomplishing anything. People are lying in jail cells, possibly without food, water, or proper sanitation and health care. They were not told why they were violently removed from their homes and their families were not informed of where they were being taken.

"If you're not angry then you're just stupid, you don't care. How else can you react when you know something so unfair, when the men of the hour can kill half the world in war, make them slaves to a super power and let them die poor..." -Ani Difranco

Human life is sacred. Don't let it disappear without a fight.

bahrain human rights update

I've ended my fast and decided to dedicate my energy to spreading the word about the human rights atrocities occurring in Bahrain. I know that people are suffering in other locations, believe me that I know more than almost anybody, but Zainab has somehow touched me in a way I can't escape. She is in her late 20's, I am in my early 20's. She studied in the Midwest, I grew up in the Midwest. She cares about the rights of human beings, I can see the fire burning in her eyes in the official picture released of her. She's willing to die for the release of her family. I no longer agree with the methods she is using, especially since she has a one year old daughter to take care of, but I feel that she chose this extreme form of protest because Bahraini officials and the world would not listen to any other form of pleas.

I wish I could stand in a populated area and shout to people about what is going on in Bahrain. I wish I could convey to people how horrible it is to watch your loved ones beaten and dragged from your home for no reason. I don't even know this horror personally, but when I imagine any person being treated so cruelly I cannot comprehend. I wish I could hold people by the shoulders and shake them awake, make them care, but I cannot.

human rights: bahrain

I haven't been very interested in updating my blog lately, or being on the internet in general. There is a lot going on in the world and I often feel overwhelmed by the desire to post on all of the events. Right now I am focusing on the human rights violations happening in Bahrain, and the hunger strike of Zainab Al-Khawaja, a young woman who watched her father and husband beaten and taken away in the middle of the night by Bahraini officials. Starting tomorrow I will be fasting in order to show my solidarity with Zainab and the detainees. Zainab's father was a prominent human rights activist in Bahrain and is just one of many to be taken away, questioned, and tortured by the Bahraini government.

Since I will be starting my personal fast tomorrow tonight's dinner was my last meal. It was Chinese food from the Chinese buffet in town. There isn't much I can eat there since I am a vegetarian and most of the dishes contain meat, but I enjoyed some salad and dessert. I hope to record a few videos regarding my fast and Zainab's fast in order to bring more awareness to this issue.

good morning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_BE6ILStnM

trains and nori rolls (and polynesians)

Last night I dreamt that I was at a mega-huge, futuristic train station with my good friend Jenna, and we were looking for her good friend Tommy. For some reason, the side of the station we were one (trains to the right!) was elevated by about a story, creating a loft effect when we looked down and across the eight sets of tracks to the people waiting for trains heading in the other direction (to the left). As I looked down at the people across the tracks I saw a boy I knew when I was in high school, so I shouted his name and asked him if he knew where Tommy was. How I figured he and Tommy knew each other is beyond me, but in dreamland he did. He said Tommy had been doing some work for his father and goofed off too much, so he had to stay longer to finish.




Throughout this dream I heard the roar of trains arriving in the station. Outside of finding Jenna's friend I had no purpose at the train station, although I knew I had originally gone there to take a journey. I soon awoke to the sounds of approaching thunder. So much for trains.

Another dream that I had much earlier in the night was that I was eating nori rolls filled with rice. I had such a strong desire for these rolls. Luckily, when I awoke I was able to eat a nori roll, although the rice we had leftover was curry rice. Still tasted delicious.




The third and final dream I can remember having last night was of a Polynesian couple. They were young, about my age, and they seemed to be going through something, like an illness. This is not so unusual because yesterday I had a friend tell me that someone she knew might have cancer, and I later told another friend that we should have been born into a Polynesian culture.